The Truth Staff
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced the appointment of Lacy DeBerry, III as the new director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion during a press conference on Wednesday, April 6.
DeBerry arrives in Toledo from Greensboro, NC, where he was a human resources consultant since 2007, bringing 25 years of experience in government providing human resources and educational services.
“I believe we need a good mix of local talent, those with local perspectives … but it is also important to bring in ne faces who can look at problems with a new set of eyes,” said the mayor during his introduction. “Lacy comes from outside of the community and doesn’t have a natural link here. In Lacy, we are confident we have the right fit and he will love the city as much as we love it.”
During his time with the City of Greensboro, DeBerry was responsible for handling employee complaints, investigating discrimination charges, and providing technical assistance to executive leadership concerning policy implementation.
DeBerry graduated from Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, NC with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Urban Affairs. In 2020, DeBerry graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Government, Chapel Hill.
He has been involved with the Triad Chapter of NFBPA since 2008, and has presented at Forums 2010- 2012, 2019- 2020. He is a 2012-13 Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) graduate and served as the president of the Triad chapter from 2015-17. DeBerry is a graduate of Foundations of Management and Leadership Edge. Currently, he is an instructor in the Foundations of Policy.
DeBerry started his new position on April 4 but noted that he had already gotten a sense of some of the issues he will face, and the work that has preceded him in his new office.
“We are doing some things in Toledo that I’m just pleased with and we want to continue the momentum,” he said without getting into details. He did, however, address the fact that he is aware that a number of community groups and organizations have departments or offices of diversity, equity and inclusion in place and that he hopes to collaborate with such offices – a point also emphasized by the mayor.
“There is an active network of DEI professionals and we want to coordinate a little better,” said Kapszukiewicz.
The mayor added that one of the reasons that DeBerry was such an appealing candidate for the position was his place of work – the South. “In this work, at this time, for 20 years he has worked in the Deep South – an old Confederate state. “His experience and perspective is important.”